KR20040032236A - Management of tv plaza - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for operating TV plaza is provided to dispersedly impose costs for a set-top box by adding new additional functions, and systematically manage information for TV plaza. CONSTITUTION: A memory of a storage medium(100) embedded in a set-top box is divided into a plurality of sub-units(111,112,113). The plurality of sub-units store information of TV plaza subscribers(200). The first sub-unit(111) is assigned to store information of a first company A(211). The second sub-unit(112) is assigned to store information of a second company B(212). The third sub-unit(113) is assigned to store information of a third company C(213). The stored information construct a TV plaza in the set-top box. Users can connect with the information for TV plaza at any time by controlling a remote control controlling a TV. The information for TV plaza are displayed on the TV.

Description

How to Operate TV Plaza {MANAGEMENT OF TV PLAZA}

The present invention relates to a TV plaza operating method. More specifically, the present invention allocates some or all of the memory of the storage medium built into the set-top box to store the information for the TV plaza, and divides the memory allocated to store the information for the TV plaza into a plurality of subunits. The present invention relates to a TV plaza operating method comprising storing information corresponding to a TV plaza subscriber in each subunit. The present invention also relates to a TV plaza operating method capable of systematically managing a TV plaza, wherein the method divides the memory allocated to store the information for the TV plaza into a plurality of upper categories, and further divides the upper categories. And dividing the TV plaza information stored in the memory into a plurality of subcategories into categories, and systematically managing the TV plaza information.

Interactive television (interactive television) is currently being tested and developed by various satellite broadcast, telephone, cable companies and the like. The interactive TV described above has the advantage that the viewer can interact with the TV beyond just channel, volume and videotape manipulation, and thus the potential is infinite. Users of the iTV can access on-demand video, pay bills, and attend banking, shopping, bookings, games or forums.

To convert an existing television set into an interactive TV, a set top box should be added, and various types of set top boxes have been developed or are under development. Further efforts are being made to provide various additional functions to increase the use value of the set-top box, such as a set-top box having a PVR (PERSONAL VIDEO RECORDER) or DVR (DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER) function. The set top box to which the PVR or DVR function is added includes a storage medium in the set top box, and the user can store and record desired information on the storage medium under the user's control while watching TV.

However, at present, set-top boxes have not been generalized because the set-top boxes with various additional functions are not realized and the price of the set-top boxes is relatively high. The price of set-top box is about $ 200-250, and the price of set-top box must be borne by both broadcasters and users. Therefore, it is necessary to ease the economic burden to realize full-fledged interactive TV.

Accordingly, there is an urgent need for a set-top box having additional functions to satisfy both users and service providers as well as to distribute the cost of the set-top box by adding new additional functions to the set-top box.

An object of the present invention is to add a new additional function to the set-top box to distribute the cost of the set-top box evenly and to satisfy both the user and the service provider.

Another object of the present invention is to allocate some or all of the memory of the storage medium embedded in the set-top box to store information for the TV plaza, and to divide the memory allocated to store the information for the TV plaza into a plurality of subunits. It is to provide a TV plaza operating method characterized by storing the information corresponding to the TV plaza subscriber in a subunit.

Another object of the present invention relates to a method of operating a TV plaza that enables systematic management of a TV plaza, wherein the method divides a memory allocated to store the information for the TV plaza into a plurality of upper categories, and the upper category. Dividing the information into a plurality of subcategories, and dividing and storing the TV plaza information stored in the memory into categories to systematically manage the TV plaza information.

1 is a preferred embodiment of the TV plaza operating method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a preferred configuration of an information signal for a TV plaza suitable for the operating method of the TV plaza disclosed in FIG.

3 and 4 is another preferred embodiment of the TV plaza operating method according to the present invention.

In the present specification, the term "TV plaza" refers to a specific area in which the information data is stored in the set-top box by storing information data provided by others other than the TV viewer in a storage medium of the set-top box regardless of the request of the TV viewer (or user). Plaza), and if desired, the user can browse (including browsing or navigation) and display it on a TV. That is, information provided by others is stored in the set-top box regardless of the needs of the TV viewers (or users), and the plazas where the TV viewers (or users) can retrieve the information and display it on the TV according to their needs are set-top. It is built in a box. For example, a variety of advertisement information is stored in a storage medium in a set top box regardless of a user's needs, so that a plaza such as a shopping mall is constructed in the set top box. The user simply operates his TV to visit the plaza to search for advertisement information and to contact and collect information of a desired product.

As used herein, the term "information for a TV plaza" refers to information provided to construct the TV plaza. The information for the TV plaza is independent of the normal broadcast signal provided by the broadcasting company (including the airwave broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, and cable broadcasting service providers), and the information for the TV plaza is for the TV plaza regardless of the user's request. Stored in a storage medium to build a TV plaza in the set-top box, characterized in that displayed on the user's TV when the user's request. The TV plaza information includes not only advertisement information (including advertisement information about products and companies) but also life information such as education information, stock information, weather information, and the like. In addition, the "information signal for TV plaza" refers to a signal compressed into a form that can be received by the set-top box by digitizing the information for the TV plaza. The information signal for the TV plaza may be an audio signal, a video signal, a data broadcast data signal, or a complex signal in which two or more thereof are combined. Meanwhile, in the present specification, the term "broadcast signal" refers to a signal for determining whether to watch or store a broadcast under the control of a user. Examples of such a broadcast signal include airwave broadcasting such as KBS, MBC, SBS, CNN, NHK, and the like. , Satellite broadcasting provided by a satellite broadcaster, cable broadcasting provided by a cable broadcaster, and the like. The above-mentioned "broadcast signal" and "TV plaza information signal" may be provided by independent operators independently of each other, but the increase in costs that may occur when providing the "TV plaza information signal" independently may be considered. At this time, it is preferable to be separated from each other and sent out together. At this time, "is separated and sent" means that the broadcast signal and the information information for the TV plaza are sent in a form that can be identified independently of each other. In other words, the broadcast signal and the TV plaza information signal have different identification information.

In the present specification, "TV plaza operator" refers to a person who manages and operates the TV plaza as a whole, and "TV plaza subscriber" refers to a person who provides information for TV plaza under a certain contract with the TV plaza operator. Examples of subscribers include producers and information providers.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings to describe the present invention in more detail.

Figure 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the TV plaza operating method according to the present invention.

The memory of the storage medium 100 embedded in the set-top box is divided into a plurality of sub-units 111, 112 and 113, which store information of the TV plaza subscriber 200. Specifically, the subunit 111 is allocated to store information of company A 211, which is one of the TV plaza subscribers 200, and the subunit 112 is allocated to store information of company B 212, and the subunit ( 113 is assigned to store information of company C 212. For example, if the company A 211 wants to inform the user of corporate information for enhancing the corporate image, the A company 211 inputs the digital signal encoded by an appropriate compression standard into the set-top box to display the sub-unit (111). ) To store the information. If the company B 212 wants to inform the user of the information about the products he produces, the company B 212 stores the information in the subunit 112. If the company C 213 intends to deliver the stock price information to the user, the company 213 stores the information in the subunit 113. In this case, the information is transmitted to the storage medium 100 and stored in the allocated subunits 111, 112, and 113, regardless of the user's request. The stored information establishes a TV plaza within the set-top box. More specifically, when the memory allocated to store the above information, that is, information for the TV plaza is 20 Gbytes, and the memory allocated to each company is 1 Mbyte, the information of 2000 companies is stored. It will form a TV plaza within the set-top box. The user can access the TV plaza information by operating a remote controller or the like that can control the TV at any time, and display the TV plaza information on the TV, for example, the company information of the company A and the product of the company B. Information and stock information provided by Company C.

As described above, the information for the TV plaza is independent of the normal broadcast signal provided by the broadcasting company (including the airwave broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, and cable broadcasting service provider), and the information for the TV plaza is required by the user. Regardless of whether it is stored in a storage medium to build a TV plaza in the set-top box, the user's request is displayed on the user TV. In addition, the information for the TV plaza is encoded by a suitable compression standard and then input to the set-top box in the form of a digital signal, wherein the signal is an audio signal, a video signal, a data broadcast data signal, or a combination of two or more thereof. May be a signal.

FIG. 2 shows a preferred configuration of an information signal for a TV plaza suitable for the operating method of the TV plaza disclosed in FIG. First, the TV plaza information signal 300 is an information area for identifying that it is TV plaza information, that is, a TV plaza identification information area 301, an information area for identifying a TV plaza subscriber, that is, a TV plaza subscriber identification information area 302. And the TV Plaza information area 303, which the TV Plaza subscriber wants to inform the user, are transmitted to the set-top box in the form of a digital signal encoded with a suitable compression standard. The set-top box checks the TV plaza information identification area 301 by using a demultiplexer (DEMUX) normally built in the set-top box to confirm whether the received signal is TV plaza information, and when the received signal is TV plaza information. The information is transmitted to the storage medium regardless of the user's control signal. The set-top box also checks the TV plaza subscriber identification information area 302 to identify which TV plaza subscriber the TV plaza information is, and stores the data of the TV plaza information area 303 in a corresponding storage area. . For example, when the information signal for TV plaza is a digital signal encoded with company information of company A, it is stored in the subunit 111 shown in FIG.

Figure 3 shows another preferred embodiment of the TV plaza operating method according to the present invention. As can be seen in Figure 3, some of the memory of the storage medium 100 embedded in the set-top box is allocated to store information for the TV plaza (TV plaza information storage memory 101) and the rest to the PVR data May be allocated to store (memory 102 for storing PVR data). At this time, the memory 101 allocated to store the information for the TV plaza is divided into a plurality of sub-units 111, 112, and 113, which store the information of the TV plaza subscriber regardless of the user's control signal. Done. That is, the subunit 111 stores company information of the A company irrespective of the user's control signal, the subunit 112 stores the product information of the B company, and the subunit 113 is provided by the C company. Stock information will be saved. On the other hand, the memory 102 allocated to store the data for the PVR stores the video data desired by the user under the control of the user.

Figure 4 shows another preferred embodiment of the TV plaza operating method according to the present invention. As shown in Fig. 4, the TV plaza information storage memory 101 is divided into a plurality of sub-units, which form upper categories 111, 112, and 113. As shown in FIG. These subunits are subdivided to form subcategories (subcategory-111A-111C of 111; subcategory-112A-112C of 112; subcategory-113A-113C of 113). By classifying the memory 101 allocated to store the information for the TV plaza into an upper category and a plurality of subcategories belonging thereto, it is possible to systematically manage the information for the TV plaza. That is, the upper categories 111, 112, and 113 may be allocated to store company information, product information, and advertisement information, and the lower category may be allocated to TV plaza subscribers belonging to the upper category. For example, if a TV plaza subscriber wanting to provide corporate information includes a company, a 'company, and a' company, the upper category 111 is set to store the company information, and the subcategory 111A, 111B and 111C) may be assigned to store company information of company a, company a 'and company a' ', respectively. In addition, when the upper category 112 is set to store the advertisement information of the product, the lower category (112A, 112B, 112C) is to store the information of the products produced by the b company, b 'company, b' company, respectively . Furthermore, the upper category 113 may be set to store other information. In this case, the lower category 113A, 113B, and 113C may be set to store stock information, education information, and weather information, respectively. The invention also does not exclude that a plurality of subunits may be added to a subcategory. That is, the subcategory 113A may be divided into two second subcategories 113a and 113a ', and may be allocated to companies providing stock information, respectively. On the other hand, the number of the upper category and the lower category is not particularly limited, and the allocation may be appropriately selected in consideration of the memory capacity allocated to store the TV plaza information, the type of TV plaza subscriber, the nature of the TV plaza information, and the like. have. Furthermore, the allocation of the upper category and the lower category can be modified in various forms. For example, the upper category 111 is allocated to store the information provided by the company A, and the subcategories 111A, 111B, and 111C belonging to the company A, the company information, the product information, and the purchase information of the product, respectively. Can be stored separately. As another example, the upper category 111 may be allocated to store home appliance information, and the lower category 111A, 111B, and 111C belonging thereto may be allocated to store a computer, a camera, and a refrigerator, respectively. ) May be divided into second subcategories 111a and 111a 'and then assigned to company a and company a' that produce computers, respectively. The classification of these categories and the allocation of information for each category are determined by the TV plaza operator, who manages and operates the TV plaza as a whole. When operating separately in an upper category and a plurality of lower categories belonging to the upper category, the information signal for the TV plaza includes an identification area corresponding to the upper category. On the other hand, by dividing the memory allocated to store the information for the TV plaza into the upper category and a plurality of sub-categories belonging to the upper category, and further divided into the information for the TV plaza to store the information for the TV plaza systematically can do. That is, when the user wants to search the information stored in the TV plaza, the user transmits the summary information of the upper category and the plurality of sub categories to the user TV, and the user systematically searches for the information desired by the user based on the summary information Will be performed.

First, the TV plaza operating method according to the present invention can be displayed quickly by the user TV because it is stored in the set-top box (time required: about 2-3 seconds). In other words, if you want to access the internet site on the PC and search for the same information, you have to go to the power of the PC → go to the site you want, so it is not only complicated and cumbersome, but also to contact the information. The disadvantage is that it takes a long time (approximately 40-60 seconds).

The TV plaza operating method according to the present invention also provides a method for the user to actively access the information for the TV plaza, unlike the conventional contact of information by watching TV. That is, the user can voluntarily search for the information for the TV plaza, which enables active information contact and information collection beyond the passive information contact generated in conventional TV viewing.

The TV plaza operating method according to the present invention also divides the information for the TV plaza into a plurality of subunits, and stores the information corresponding to the TV plaza subscriber in each subunit so that the TV plaza subscriber is provided to himself under a certain contract with the TV plaza operator. Various information can be provided to the user within the range of allocated memory. In addition, the implementation of the TV plaza (storing, modifying and updating the TV plaza information, etc.) is not controlled by the user but is controlled by the TV plaza operator (or TV plaza subscriber), so that the TV plaza operator (or TV plaza subscriber) and the user are controlled. An elevated concept set-top box that can independently control each other's own area is created. Specifically, the TV Plaza operator (or TV plaza subscriber) can build the information of the TV plaza independently without the user's control, and the user can actively and quickly retrieve the information, thereby improving the concept. The set-top box add-on is implemented. For example, if the memory for storing the information for the TV plaza is 20 Gbytes and the memory is allocated to the TV plaza subscriber in units of 1 Mbyte, as many as 2000 pieces of information are provided to the user by the TV plaza subscriber, and the user can quickly access the information. Search in time and freely.

Furthermore, the TV plaza operating method according to the present invention contributes to the generalization or popularization of the set-top box. That is, in the conventional case, the cost of purchasing a set-top box had to be borne by both the broadcaster and the user. However, when the TV plaza is constructed by storing the above-mentioned information in a storage medium in the set-top box, the TV plaza operator and the TV plaza subscriber ( For example, advertisers such as producers and information providers) may also operate on their own, which may result in new costs for the set-top box, thus reducing the user's cost of purchasing the set-top box. It will also contribute to the generalization or popularization of the box.

Claims (3)

All or part of the memory of the storage medium built into the set-top box is allocated to store information for the TV plaza, and the memory allocated to store the information for the TV plaza is divided into a plurality of subunits, TV plaza operating method comprising the step of storing the corresponding information. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory allocated to store the information for the TV plaza is divided into upper categories, the upper category is divided into a plurality of lower categories, and the TV plaza information stored in the memory is divided into categories. TV plaza operating method characterized in that the storage. The information system of claim 1, wherein the TV plaza identification information area for identifying that the information for the TV plaza is TV plaza information, the TV plaza subscriber identification information area for identifying the TV plaza subscriber, and the information that the TV plaza subscriber wants to notify the user are. A TV plaza operating method comprising a built-in TV plaza information area and a digital signal encoded by a compression standard.